How To Make Our Paper Owls

Posted on 1st December 2016

Have you spotted the parliament of paper owls that have taken flight in our shop windows this winter? Kathryn, from our windows design team, is here to show you how you can make your very own paper owl. They make perfect decorations for your Christmas tree, or a pretty addition to your centrepiece.

1. Take three sheets of tissue paper, scrunch into an upside down pear shape and wrap masking tape around it to it hold all together. This will form the body of your owl.

2. Pull the tail of the body slightly out to the side to create a fish tail shape.

3. Next, take a thinner rectangle of tissue paper and fold over and over again to create a thin strip of paper for the face shape of the owl. Seal the strip of tissue with some masking tape.

4. Attach the strip of tissue paper to the top of the owl’s body and create two loops of the paper – these look a bit like goggles! Position correctly as this will become the owl’s face. Secure with tape and cut off the excess paper strip.

5. To make the feet, cut 2 pieces of coloured wire 12 inches long. Starting from one end of the wire leave an inch gap and then bend three front claw loops and one back claw loop. Secure the claws together by wrapping the spare inch of wire between the front and back claws. Then twist each claw separately with the pliers. Bend the length of leg wire back on itself to create the owl’s leg, twist with pliers to secure and repeat the process again till you have a pair of owl feet.

6. Place the legs on each side of the owl’s body. Check the placement and positioning so the owl can stand on its own. Then secure the legs with masking tape.

7. Now you are ready to decorate your owl using square pieces of lining paper. Tear half way up each square to create a fringe, this will become the owl’s feathers. Prepare enough to cover the main body of your owl.

8. Start sticking the paper squares to the tail of your owl and work your way up the body, covering the tissue paper. Patch the top of the owl’s head with smaller pieces of paper.

9. Now you can cover the face of your owl with the smaller pieces of paper provided and create a nice owl face shape to your liking.

10. To make the eyes and beak, cut out one small circle from the folded square of brown paper. To create your two eyes. Then fold over the square of gold paper and cut a small triangle shape to create a beak.

11. Stick eyes and beak to the face of your owl and add any extra tail or wing feathers to finish and add character to the overall look of your mini owl.

12. If you would like to hang your owl as a decoration, attach some colourful string to the top with a small blob of super glue.

Do you like to get crafty at Christmas? We’d love to see your creations, share them with us using #SeasaltMakes on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.